tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102949302012-03-05T06:29:07.903-08:00An eclectic brew of odds and ends designed to get people to read short devotional Christian thoughts about the news of the day, or at least what seems to be the hot topic of discussion in the blogosphere.John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.comBlogger77771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-26342118210386358352012-03-05T06:00:00.000-08:002012-03-05T06:00:01.279-08:00

Mark Daniels:“Insecurity results from egotism,” someone wrote on Twitter recently.That single sentence so jarred me the moment I read it that I neither responded to nor noted the name of the writer. The words have made me think and I’ve concluded that while insecurity may have many sources, personal vanity is definitely one of them.What a stark and very true thought. Focus on our pain is a form

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-79100678347944332782012-03-03T05:30:00.000-08:002012-03-03T05:30:03.058-08:00

Who can take a cliche and turn it into art? Why comic book creators - that's who. I cannot think of a more cliched villain than today's visit to Death Ninja. Just for starters we are talking http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifabout the most redundant name in history. After all, ninjas are assassins so by definition they bring death. BUt then when have things like proper use of adjectives of

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-73950640278884927792012-03-02T06:00:00.000-08:002012-03-02T06:00:08.687-08:00

Justin Taylor:Pastor Byron Yawn, a self-described “recovering fundie,” explains 10 effects of the “angry prophet” type who defines himself by what he’s against: You’ll forget to talk about what’s good . . . especially about Jesus.You’ll begin to take yourself too seriously.You’ll begin to preach the same sermon from every passage.You’ll foster mean people.You’ll eventually assemble an audience of

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-77090761848878133222012-03-02T05:30:00.000-08:002012-03-02T05:30:01.009-08:00

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John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-37827902629771591602012-03-01T06:00:00.000-08:002012-03-01T06:00:10.626-08:00

Think Christian:It’s Tyndale House’s Manga series, available in four books, with another on the way. “Manga Messiah” presents the gospel stories with Jesus referred to as Yeshuah, and Joseph and Mary are Yosef and Miryam. “Manga Metamorphosis” illustrates the book of Acts. “Manga Mutiny” goes back to the Old Testament and retells the stories of Genesis. “Manga Melech” continues the Old Testament

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Related Tags: Illuminated Hymn

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-37575755170466594242012-02-29T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-29T06:00:07.720-08:00

So, we want to use science to enhance character?!?!? Secondhand Smoke blog reports on two efforts in the wake of recent riots in the UK and rants:Everything, but give religious training, no doubt. How’s this for an approach? Teach the Golden Rule, which promotes ethical and moral societies regardless of whether one has faith. Teach “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” also known as karma, aka, “what

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-42414752191837843272012-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-28T06:00:17.131-08:00

What If I Stumble on memorizing scripture:Scripture Memory Gives Us Clearer ThoughtsScripture Memory Gives Us Healthier EmotionsScripture Memory Gives Us Purer HabitsScripture Memory Gives Us Happier HomesScripture Memory Gives Us Greater RespectScripture Memory Makes Us Eternal OptimistsSave for regular prayer, I know of nothing more valuable in my walk with Christ than memorizing scripture. I

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-31377354686799954472012-02-28T05:30:00.001-08:002012-02-28T05:30:03.369-08:00

Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-2572339484888953252012-02-27T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-27T06:00:18.700-08:00

Christian Post:Forever 21, a clothing store for fashionable men and women on a budget, is accused of pushing a strong religious agenda, with the launch of its new graphic tees that feature strong Christian themes such as Jesus, God and prayer.The collection of T-shirts are embellished with holy slogans that include: "Love," "Jesus ♥ You," "Holy," "Jesus ♥ Me," "God," and "Three Words to Live by:

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HEROES AND ARTISTS - BLACK BOLTAdi GranovJae LeeJim CheungAleski BriclotMark BagleyTechnorati Tags:comics, comic books, comic art, heroes and artists, black boltGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-66856283424799690492012-02-24T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-24T06:00:10.085-08:00

Interesting study discussed @ Christian Post:Conventional wisdom has it that there is a growing relationship between a person's level of education and their religion. Most people assume that the more a person is educated, their level of religion goes down because they start forming ideas of their own.However, a new study indicates that the opposite may be true.Sociologist Philip Schwadel from the

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-72771265883463397932012-02-24T05:30:00.000-08:002012-02-24T05:30:00.599-08:00

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...is it really excellence?Church Marketing Sucks carried a couple of posts on "The Problem with Excellence." They are really the standard "don't set your sites too high," "best is the enemy of better," but that title set me to thinking.We Christians are really good at "cute." We use an obvious oxymoron to try and make a point, AND get people to read what we write. Problem is, the oxymoron

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-24109286286061941282012-02-23T05:45:00.000-08:002012-02-23T07:42:50.452-08:00

Related Tags: Illuminated Meditation

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-58470083456934806012012-02-22T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-22T06:00:07.075-08:00

Ron Edmondson on ways to know if God is talking to you:Every believer wants to hear from God. Why would you follow God closely if you didn’t want to know His voice or hear what He has to say? We want to know…Is this God?…Is this what He is telling me to do?…or…Am I being swayed by the circumstances of my life?One thing I’ve observed is that we often listen for the grandiose voice of God.

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-44087372332550729252012-02-21T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-21T06:00:05.469-08:00

Brandon O'Brien @ "Out of Ur":Whether or not these books can be credited with sparking current trends, it’s clear the spirit of both of them is alive and well in American Christianity. The so-called “New Reformed” movement is living out Noll’s call for greater intellectual engagement and doctrinal sophistication. And legions of younger Christians are taking up Sider’s vision to seek social

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Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-62901618066913161042012-02-20T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-20T06:00:08.255-08:00

Christian Post reports on a Barna study:There is a declining depth of commitment among born-again Christians to their faith over the last 20 years, according to a “State of the Church” study by the Barna Research Group released this week.In interpreting the study, which shows a drop in church attendance, Bible reading, and priority in faith, research group founder George Barna warned that

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-19811029393895515502012-02-18T05:30:00.000-08:002012-02-18T05:30:01.472-08:00

John! Have you lost your mind? That image on the right - it's...it's...a photograph! That's right dear friend, not drawn, taken. Why you may ask. Well the image on left here is a DC Comics poorly known villain by the name of Mister Who. The character on right is one of the numerous, and perhaps most popular ever portrayals of the science fiction television icon (from Britain) Doctor Who.

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-61963999072541547482012-02-17T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-17T06:00:16.424-08:00

John Piper on six characteristics of leadershipHumilityDiversificationMutual HelpfulnessStrengthBenefit to God's PeopleSurrender to God's Sovereign Guidance"Humility...Surrender," there are not words we often associate with leadership. And yet, they lie at the very heart of it.To often people get into leadership out of their own need for acceptance, to prove something to someone, to get their

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Roger Olson:We’ve been discussing the concept “heresy” here and it is a notoriously difficult one to pin down or find agreement about. However, I worry that a bigger problem for the American church, especially, is folk religion. Sure, the two concepts overlap somewhat. But American folk religion (and I’m sure it has its analogies elsewhere) is rampant within the churches (all denominations)

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Related Tags: Illuminated Hymn

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-21026216594842092502012-02-15T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-15T06:00:17.918-08:00

Old friend Jollyblogger writes out of his pain:But I thought I would share something today that I hope is helpful. It’s a quote from Larry Crabb, sorry I don’t remember which book – I know it’s got to be from at least 10 years ago -The goal is that God be glorified in us, not useful to us.That sums up my life. I think that sums up much of the Scripture and I think it sums up where we go wrong

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-10075744709186918282012-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-14T06:00:08.797-08:00

Dr. Robert Crosby out of Gordon-Conwell is fed up with religion:Mine was a test of endurance. The pew was hard; the clock, slow; the mind was wandering, and the scene, all too familiar. It was ten minutes after eleven on yet another Sunday morning. I was right where I had been told since my earliest years I was supposed to be at that time of the week. And, for the life of me, I could not figure

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-32449824031925848462012-02-14T05:30:00.000-08:002012-02-14T05:30:04.451-08:00

Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-72880047380432961682012-02-13T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-13T06:00:09.767-08:00

As I read this post by Lara Blackwood Pickrel @ Thoughtful Christian:...In the church world, young adults have a tendency to fall into the following category: troublesome.It's not that church folk don't want young adults around. In fact, most congregations are desperately searching for ways to appeal to, reach out to and engage people in the 18-35 year age bracket. If teenage years are the

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-121284383486633392012-02-11T05:30:00.000-08:002012-02-11T05:30:00.877-08:00

HEROES AND ARTISTS - COSMIC BOY of the LSHYidray CinarJesus SaizScott ClarkGary FrankNeal AdamsTechnorati Tags:comics, comic books, comic art, heroes and artists, cosmic boy, legion of super heroesGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

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Mark Roberts reflects on the early verses of Romans:The love of God also inspires us to live as “his own holy people.” In more traditional terms, we are God’s saints, those who have been set apart by him for relationship and service. As holy people, we belong to God even though we live in this world. We seek to be like him, to act as he acts, and to honor him in everything we do. Our holiness

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Ron Edmondson puts up one of those "4 zone" charts. I hate the things, but here is his prose summary:Invitation - This refers to the atmosphere and degree of welcoming a church or an individual message provides. Do people enjoy being there? Do they want to come back? Is it inviting? Is a message fun to listen to? Is it encouraging and helpful?Challenge - This refers to the degree others are

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-4754105639305165362012-02-09T05:25:00.000-08:002012-02-09T05:28:10.615-08:00

Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-21225546332375788292012-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-08T06:00:02.011-08:00

Ron Edmondson wrote a post "7 Suggestions for a Pastor or Pastor’s Spouse to Find True Friends":I have been asked numerous times lately how a pastor or pastor’s spouse can find true friends. I understand the question. It’s difficult. Those outside ministry cannot understand how difficult it is for a pastor to find someone to trust.Here’s the reality. People talk. If the pastor talks…shares a

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-44347723991722697652012-02-07T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-07T06:00:07.515-08:00

iMonk carries a post by "Martha of Ireland" and the sanctity of the Catholic sacrament of confession in opposition to recent state rulings:The topic was mentioned on here recently about the Irish government’s plan to introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse, with particular reference to the duties of priests as regards what they learn in confessions. I’m not going to wade into the particular

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-10993735241446898992012-02-07T05:30:00.000-08:002012-02-07T05:30:01.260-08:00

Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-71644558619732962142012-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-06T06:00:10.322-08:00

Christian Post, which is supposed to be a Christian news out let, carries a story on a poll:Public Policy Polling (PPP) released the results of their poll on Tuesday in which 928 Americans were asked questions like, “If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its performance?” and “If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its handling of natural disasters?”Fifty two percent of Americans

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SO BAD, THEY'RE GOODSOMETIMES SPLASH ART SAYS IT ALLTechnorati Tags:comics, comic books, comic art, villainsGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

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Catr MacDonald @ Mere Orthodoxy:I have spent years trying to figure out how to forgive a wrong I just can’t forget. I have tried putting myself in the other’s shoes, but when you can’t understand them, this doesn’t work. I have tried just pretending I had forgiven (fake it ‘til you make it), but I’m not that good at self-deceit. For many years I had such internal fog when it came to those days,

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Continuing on something we discussed a few days ago Sjye Jethani @ Out of Ur continues to look at Mission and Idol:You may be thinking, “But we are called to do things for God. And what’s the alternative--continuing to allow the people in our churches to be self-consumed Christians seeking only their own comfort?” That is a very fair concern. And I completely concur with the consumer posture that

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Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-37416998129039330042012-02-01T06:00:00.000-08:002012-02-01T06:00:09.084-08:00

Christian Post:A Presbyterian minister on Long Island is bucking church protocol by saying she will marry same-sex couples.The Rev. Elizabeth Simpson of the First Presbyterian Church of Glen Cove told WCBS radio that she will marry one of the same-sex couples that attend the church next March.“I will make myself vulnerable to accusations or indictments, so to speak, from within the Presbytery,”

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Christian Web Trends Talks about how self-promotion hurts a church web site and misses an important spiritual principle within:I have a friend who started a blog about his automobile restoration passion. He was blogging for months with very few readers and was frustrated. He sought out professional marketing help for his blog and they gave him life changing advice! Here it is… “Go find other

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Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

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Justin Taylor quotes James Anderson on whether God changed at the Incarnation. The question as posed:How do we hold together the idea that God doesn’t change with what happened at the incarnation and resurrection – where Jesus was united to a human nature and took on an earthly body and ultimately a resurrection body? It’s hard to understand that God taking on a human nature and all that he

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HEROES AND ARTISTS - SUE RICHARDS/INVISIBLE WOMANBrian HitchMark BrooksMy Vain Attempt At HumorJ Scott CampbellAdi GranovTechnorati Tags:comics, comic books, comic art, artists and heroes, sue richardsGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

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Skye Jethani @ "Out of Ur" asks:Has Mission Become Our Idol?Now THAT is one heck of an important question. It is one of my chief contentions that the idols the church must be most wary of are not money and fame, but the stuff of the church itself. His post opens this way:“There is a first-rate commitment to a second-rate mission.” That is what Roger, a leader in global church planting, said as

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MMI notes that Josh McDowell said:The Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and I believe, the almost equal access to your kids as your youth pastor and you have… whether you like it or not… Now here is the problem. Going all the way back, when Al Gore invented the Internet [he said jokingly], I made the statement off and on for 10-11

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Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-53418381227179986792012-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:002012-01-25T06:00:21.480-08:00

Bob Hyatt on leadership:As a pastor, I have authority in my community. But authority is not really what I want. What I really want is influence.Authority is the ability to get people to do what I think they should do. Influence, however, is the ability to move people to want to do what they need to do.[...]I’ve come to realize something about the difference between my pastoral authority and my

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Mark Roberts uses Luke 16:10-12 as "A Call to Consistent Integrity":Jesus thought differently. He said that if you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones too. By implication, you will not be faithful in the big things if you are not faithful in the little ones. The same is true, according to Jesus, when it comes to honesty. He even connects stewardship of financial

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Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

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Chaplain Mike looks at how the evangelical church tends to deal with some things:There are no “steps” to “overcoming” discouragement. There is no answer, no fix for this problem. Furthermore, the Bible was not given for the purpose of enabling us to “conquer” this or any other emotional malady. It contains no instructions to follow that will lead to an answer. When genuine Christian love and

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SO BAD, THEY'RE GOODJust look at this guy, not for long mind you, but look at him. Do comic creators have NO shame? And by the way, this is not a joke, he is a real comic villain, with a bio, and TV appearances and everything. Comic relief he may have indeed mostly been, but still, shouldn't there be limits?What's next? And yet when I try to think of something more extremely silly, there is a

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In a brief devotional, Greg Laurie points out:"So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ."- Romans 10:17It is worth noting that no person in the New Testament came to faith apart from the agency of a human being. Have you ever stopped and thought about that? We can find example after example.There was the Ethiopian (see Acts 8:26-39). There are many ways that God

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...I just always wanted to use that as a headline. (you did too if you are honest with yourself.) There is a good reason though. Lynne Baab at Think Christian writes on one of my favorite Psalms:Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10I’m early for dinner at a friend’s house. She lives in the upstairs apartment in a big old house, and on her front porch is a table and two chairs. I decide

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Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

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Frank Raj writes in the Washington Times about giving up on religion but not God:Should there be one common message every religious believer needs to hear, perhaps it could be something like this:"If Christ cannot be glimpsed in the followers of Christianity, they should admit their religion is a mistake and stop faking it; Muslim's should not advocate Islam until Muslim against Muslim carnage

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Jodh Etter @ Desiring God quotes JI Packer:It is a universal experience that conscience is largely autonomous in its operation; though sometimes we can suppress or stifle it, it normally speaks independently of our will, and sometimes, indeed, contrary to our will. And when it speaks, it is in a strange way distinct from us; it stands over us, addressing us with an absoluteness of authority which

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Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

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Douglas Groothius quotes J.P. Morleand:So understood, an apologetic character is not a set of answers a person memorizes and adds to a life otherwise defined without regard to the apologetic mandate. No, an apologetic character is a way of being present in the world, an approach to life, a part of the very structure of one’s embodied soul.There is a question to ask yourself everyday when you wake

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HEROES AND ARTISTS - METAL MENDuncan RouleauWalt SimonsonTechnorati Tags:comics, comic books, comic art, heroes and artists, metal menGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

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DAvis Swanson wonders in pastoral authority is "earned, taken, or granted":Pastor. In the eight years since this label first applied to me, it has been fascinating to notice who uses it and who doesn’t. The church that first entrusted the title to me was suburban, predominately white, and largely middle-aged. As a twenty-something associate pastor, I was mostly referred to by my first name.

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Chuch Marketing Sucks discusses social media and the use of the question to draw comment:It’s easy to get frustrated and bored when you spend time putting together posts and they are seemingly ignored. While there are many reasons for this, the easiest way to change this is to introduce social media’s star character: The question mark.[...]The very first rule of social media that I put in place

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Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

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Mark Daniels looks at the parable about seeds, the sower, and soil types and concludes:While we don't control our salvation and it's all a product of God's work in our lives, we evidently can decide whether we will be good soil or not. We can decide whether we'll be receptive to the word about Jesus. Otherwise Jesus wouldn't have bothered telling this parable![...]The fruit of God's Spirit will

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I agree with iMonk:I’m somewhat angry about having this avalanche of industrially produced music forced on me for a dozen insufficient reasons. The way the church’s canon of singable, theologically meaningful music has been detonated in the name of anything that creates what growth oriented churches demand is stunning. We’ve been brutal in this process and we’re going to be sorry in the long

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Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

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MSNBC discusses the presence of "real" people in comic books. It made me sad. You see, the point of comics is to tell epic stories about epic characters - character that show us our greatest capability, and the strength to overcome our flaws. Real people are a bit different than that - many do astonishing things, but a society needs something more than astonishing.I fell in love with comics

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SO BAD, THEY'RE GOODSPEECHLESS! I am struck dumb. Every now and then you find something in comics that leaves you using nasty phrases. So it is with the arch nemesis of the Doom Patrol Beard Hunter. Doom Patrol has always been known for being weird and strange, but this leaves weird and strange somewhere in the trail dust.Most amazing is that this character dates to the 90's. Back in the day

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Mark Roberts on how God guides us:So far I’ve shown that God guides us through circumstances, Scripture, and community. In my last post, I added that we can be guided through careful reasoning. I want to explain what I mean in this post.Because the Spirit’s guidance can be so marvelously miraculous at times, we can overlook or even disparage so-called “normal” processes of reasoning. Sometimes,

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I need to know where this pub is and how I can get in the game!Technorati Tags:joke, humor, friday humor, top gearGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

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Dave Bish looks at Hosea and concludes:This is an altogether different kind of headship, an altogether different kind of god. And if this is who he is then maybe, just maybe some of the most apparently difficult material in the Bible isn’t quite as strange and peculiar as we might initially assume, not half as strange and peculiar as this LORD of love.Bish's discussion centers on the disgrace

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Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

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Justin Taylor looks at Matthew Milliner/T.S. Eliot on the interaction of Christianity and culture:In this post from First Things Matthew Milliner makes a helpful distinction between two ways of thinking about the relationship between culture and Christ as culture.The first approach thinks of Christ and culture like the dispensable relationship of the hermit crab and its shell: “The true essence

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Lynne Baab @ Thoughtful Christian:Spiritual practices (or disciplines) can be viewed as a way to spend time with someone we love. Practices can also be viewed as a way to rest in God and embrace the fact that God created us and redeemed us. We don’t do the work of creation and redemption, and abiding in Christ (John 15:1-11) through various forms of prayer, Bible study or other spiritual

John Schroederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917037602880789273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10294930.post-44798347272693844932012-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:002012-01-02T06:00:09.418-08:00

Dictionary.com:wor·ship [wur-ship] Show IPA noun, verb, -shiped, -ship·ing or (especially British) -shipped, -ship·ping.noun1. reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.Had to look it up when I read this post @ Thoughtful Christian about space exploration:I think there’s a theological reason behind that, actually. Space exploration captures

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Related Tags: New Year Art Work

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How do superheroes celebrate the New Year? With a...Technorati Tags:comic art, new yearGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

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Kevin White @ Mere Orthodoxy quotes Francis Chan:Here’s what I had to repent of: I had felt the need to soften a lot of Jesus’ statements, because in my arrogance I think, “Okay Jesus, I’m not going to say that like that. Trust me, people will like you more and be more willing to accept you if I say it like this.” Obviously I’ve never said that to God. But that’s the attitude I’ve taken, and it

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Desiring God quotes John Owen:Men profess to know the truth; but they know it not in its proper order, in its harmony in use. It leads them not to Christ, and brings not Christ unto them; and so is lifeless and useless. Hence, oft-times, none are more estranged from the life of God than such as have much notional knowledge of the doctrines of Scripture. For they are all of them useless, and

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Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

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Mark Roberts discusses how God guides us through community:Paul assumes that the Holy Spirit will be active in the church. Here he mentions prophecies, occasions when Christians speak forth God’s messages directly. In another of his letters Paul includes many more ways the Spirit speaks and acts within the church (see 1 Corinthians 12-14). But just because someone claims to have a message from

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Godspace asks "What Makes Us Fat?":So I wonder what is really making us fat? Is it our stress, our sedentary way of life, the chemicals in our bodies and our environment, the technology we use, our disconnect from God, hormonal imbalances, or just plain overeating and a lack of discipline? Yes all of these have been accused of contributing to our obesity. And I suspect that all of them do

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Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

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The Anchoress notes:That was not the first time — nor the last — that I came to see how selfishness has a deep connection to all of our sins; it is a lesson I keep needing to relearnThe Anchoress is, of course, Catholic and the res of her post bears the marks of her Catholicism, but how startling is her statement to all of faith.It strikes right at the root of the "church as service dispensary"

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Related Tags: Christmas Art Work

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For the sixth year running...Merry Christmas From A Few Of My Friends Technorati Tags:comics, comic books, comic art, superheroes, christmas comics, superhero christmasGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator

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Mark Jackson @ MMI encourages small churches to limit their programs, but this is what typically happens:hear the need (which, please understand, I believe are real – youth do need small groups; adults need deeper Bible study; kids programs should be excellent) flail about looking for someone to lead this new ministry/program grab someone who is already overworked but easily feels guilt

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Frederick Schmidt:People can be taught to observe boundaries and clean up their language. Organizations can even cultivate a respectful workplace, environment, or institutional culture—and many of the programs devoted to diversity and inclusion training use those terms. And when all else fails, leaders can even enforce appropriate behavior. (As Magill, observed, the pilot "knows what he did

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Related Tags: Illuminated Scripture

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At Christmastime, Christ is all warm fuzzy and cuddly lambs, but the incarnation is one of the essential miracles of our faith, and there is nothing cuddly about being a Christian. Daniel Harrell at Patheos:Alabama Methodist bishop Will Willimon, formerly the chaplain at Duke University, recounted a conversation he once overheard between two Duke students where the first told the second how he

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Desiing God presents a short video of DA Carson discussing the qualification to be an elder, as presented in Paul's letter to Timothy. He calls those qualifications "unremarkable." I wonder if that is the right approach in an age of rampant divorce and other "lesser" sins> I wonder if that is the right approach when the church works so hard at evangelism but so often neglects its obligation to

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Tags: cartoons, catblogging, Aggie, Flash, LoganV

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